Random News: July 1, 2024

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s July 1, 2024, and it’s a Monday. As the informed among you are aware, in a few minutes at 7AM local time, the Supreme Court will be announcing their decision on Trump v. United States, so I’m standing by for the breaking news that will affect us all profoundly.

• But first… 
• Rabbit rabbit rabbit.
• Can you believe 2024 is exactly halfway over? Feels like we just started. That’s fucked up, man. Wait until you youngsters start experiencing the bizarre elasticity of time.
• You just wait, said the old man, yelling at a cloud.
• Okay, here we go with the news we’ve awaited for months… but we’ll post them in order of whatever the SCOTUS releases.
• Decision 1: Corner Post Inc. v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  A 6-3 decision with the three liberals dissenting.
• The court holds that a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act to challenge an agency action first comes into being when the plaintiff is injured by final agency action.
• This is shitty news. It pretty much makes art week’s Loper v. Raimondo decision retroactive, as Jackson noted in her dissent, which the SCOTUS said they wouldn’t do.
• Okay. Next?
• Decision 2: NetChoice LLC v. Paxton (decided jointly with Moody v. NetChoice).
• It’s sort of unanimous, with Kagan writing the opinion and Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch writing kind-of dissents.
• They basically kicked it back to lower courts, saying neither the Fifth Circuit nor the Eleventh Circuit applied the right test, and remanding for proper application of the standard for facial relief.
• This is the big ruling about whether states can regulate large social media platforms, such as Facebook, X, and YouTube. The law purports to prohibit large social media platforms from censoring speech based on the viewpoint of the speaker.
• So this is… good news? I think? For now?
• Decision 3: Trump v. United States.
• This is too complex to explain in one sentence, but I’ll try anyway.
• A president has complete immunity for all official acts, but has no immunity for unofficial acts.
• So in a nutshell, they kicked the question back to the lower courts in regard to Trump’s crimes, and they will decide whether Trump’s crimes were official or unofficial.
• This means, as most of us assumed, that no trial will happen before the election.
• The ruling was 6-3, with the liberals dissenting.
• I told you many times… the courts will not save you from this guy.
• When you choose to vote this fall, remember the following things…
• The right to vote is at risk. Abortion access is at risk. Our right to be safe from gun violence is at risk. Our democracy itself is at risk. And all the progress Democrats have made in recent years is at risk.
• Plan accordingly.
• Moving on.
• Happy Canada Day, or Fête du Canada if you’re so inclined.
• This July 1 holiday celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the British North America Act, 1867.
• That’s when the three separate colonies — the United Canadas (Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick — were united into a single dominion within the British Empire called Canada.
• Fun Fact: Canada didn’t become completely sovereign until the passing of the Constitution Act on April 17, 1982.
• Let’s move on, or at least across the Atlantic where in France, the far right seems to be winning.
• Projections show that the National Rally party won a crushing victory in the first round of voting for the French National Assembly.
• They’re exactly who you think they are, spouting nationalist messaging and anti-immigrant politics. French MAGAs, basically.
• It’s estimated that the party would take about 34 percent of the vote, far ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party and its allies, which got about 21 percent.
• It’s a two-round election that will be completed with a runoff on July 7 between the leading parties in each constituency, so this isn’t a done deal yet by far.
• A coalition of French left-wing parties, called the New Popular Front and ranging from the moderate socialists to the far-left France Unbowed, won about 29 percent of the vote, showing the same type of extreme polarization there as we now have in the USA.
• Turnout was very high at over 65 percent.
• Back in the USA…
• Three brave Republican women in the South Carolina Senate took on their party and stopped a total abortion ban from passing in their state last year. In return, they all lost their jobs.
• Voters removed state Sens. Sandy Senn, Penry Gustafson, and Katrina Shealy from office during sparsely turned out primaries in June, and by doing so completely vacated the Republican wing of the five-member “Sister Senators,” a female contingent that included two Democrats and was joined in their opposition to the abortion ban.
• So for the start of their new session in 2025, the overwhelmingly Republican South Carolina state Senate will have literally no women.
• It also likely means that women will not wield power for decades in the fiercely conservative state where they have long struggled to gain entry into the Legislature.
• Sigh.
• We nearly got saved this weekend from all of the world’s problems.
• An asteroid the size of a football stadium threaded the needle between Earth and the moon Saturday morning — the second of two astronomical near misses in three days.
• Saturday’s asteroid, 2024 MK, came within 180,000 miles of Earth. Scientists discovered this asteroid only two weeks ago.
• So you wouldn’t have had to worry about elections or the economy or health care or anything else had that asteroid scooted over a few degrees.
• Let’s move on.
• Protests in Jerusalem against the drafting of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli military turned violent yesterday, with demonstrators attacking both law enforcement officers and a minister’s car.
• Protesters also set trash cans and the road on fire, blocking the highway.
• This (gestures randomly) isn’t going well.
• In other news…
• Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart has been found not guilty of sexual assault of a female officer in his former command in a historic court-martial on Fort Sam Houston.
• Stewart who was the first Air Force general to ever face a sexual assault jury court-martial, was found guilty Saturday on the other charges against him — dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming of an officer.
• He gets to keep his two star rank — for now.
• Fucking prick.
• Moving on.
• If you’re like many Americans, this is a bizarre work week. With July 4 being on Thursday, it seems that most of my clients are closed that day and Friday as well, leaving things possible for a big-ass four-day weekend.
• I am going to do my best to take all four days off, at least mostly.
• And now, The Weather: “I Can't Decide” by Margaux
• Let’s do a fucking chart. Billboard 200 album list from the start of July 1994.
• 1. Purple (Stone Temple Pilots). 2. The Sign (Ace Of Base). 3. Regulate… G Funk Era (Warren G). 4. Not A Moment Too Soon (Tim McGraw). 5. The Lion King (Soundtrack). 6. When Love Finds You (Vince Gill). 7. August And Everything After (Counting Crows). 8. The Crow (Soundtrack). 9. Above The Rim (Soundtrack). 10. Ill Communication (Beastie Boys). 11. All-4-One (All-4-One). 12. Chant (The Benedictine Monks Of Santo Domingo De Silos). 13. Walk On (Boston). 14. The Division Bell (Pink Floyd). 15. Superunknown (Soundgarden). 16. Live At The Acropolis (Yanni). 17. Fruitcakes (Jimmy Buffett). 18. Toni Braxton (Toni Braxton). 19. 12 Play (R. Kelly). 20. Hints, Allegations & Things Left Unsaid (Collective Soul).
• From the Sports Desk… the dog days of summer are upon us, and I have to get creative in finding sports items to discuss that I care about in any way.
• So here are the top teams in each MLB division… yawn…
• AL East: Orioles (53-31).
• AL Central: Guardians (52-30).
• AL West: Mariners (47-39).
• NL East: Phillies (55-29).
• NL Central: Brewers (50-34).
• NL West: Dodgers (52-33).
• Today in history… Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan after nightfall (1520). Lexell's Comet is seen closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 astronomical units (1770). Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society of London (1858). The Battle of Gettysburg begins (1863). The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence (1870). The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States (1881). Canada and Bermuda are linked by telegraph cable (1890). SOS is adopted as the international distress signal (1908). On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded (1916). The Parliament of Canada suspends all Chinese immigration (1923). United Airlines begins service as Boeing Transport (1931). Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, was formed (1932). ZIP codes are introduced for United States mail (1963). The first Gay Pride march in England takes place (1972). Sony introduces the Walkman (1979). "O Canada" officially becomes the national anthem of Canada (1980). The PG-13 rating is introduced by the MPAA (1984). The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression (2002). Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces (2007). The United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement replaces NAFTA (2020).
• July 1 is the birthday of author George Sand (1804), politician/educator Thomas Green Clemson (1807), author/educator William Strunk Jr. (1869), businesswoman Estée Lauder (1906), singer-songwriter Willie Dixon (1915), pimp Scotty Bowers (1923), actor Jamie Farr (1934), actor/director Sydney Pollack (1934), actor David Prowse (1935), entrepreneur Wally Amos (1936), singer-songwriter/guitarist Delaney Bramlett (1939), dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp (1941), singer-songwriter Debbie Harry (1945), white supremacist David Duke (1950), singer-songwriter Fred Schneider (1951), actor Dan Ackroyd (1952), NHL player Steve Shutt (1952), track and field athlete Carl Lewis (1961), UK princess Diana (1961), actor Andre Braugher (1962), actress Pamela Anderson (1967), rapper Missy Elliott (1971), singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens (1975), and actress Liv Tyler (1977).

We have a lot more to discuss about the presidential immunity ruling. But not now. I need to absorb it and think through the implications. I suppose it could have been worse, but make no mistake…. this is not good news for America or the world. We’ll deal with what we have to accordingly. Enjoy your day.